Firefighters tackle blaze at town church

Six crews were sent to the south Norfolk town, along with an aerial ladder and a water-carrying vehicle

Firefighters have been tackling a fire at a Victorian church in a town centre.

Crews were called to St John's Church in Harleston, Norfolk this afternoon.

Six crews were dealing with the incident on Broad Street and a cordon was in place, the fire service said.

It advised anyone living nearby to keep their doors and windows closed.

Norfolk Fire Service said the blaze was "under control"

"The fire is under control but not yet out," a fire service spokesperson said.

"We still have multiple crews in attendance on scene, including one of our aerial ladder platforms to tackle it from above."

Helen Orford, benefice administrator for seven churches including Harleston, was at the scene and said: "The fire is out but there was quite a lot of damage.

"Nobody knows what's happened and what caused it.

"The church wasn't just a church — we had a food bank in there; we had a lot of things for the community.

"Schools used it a lot – kids were supposed to come here for the harvest [festival] on Friday."